Pope Francis will make his first foreign trip of the year and the longest of his 11-year papacy, traveling to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore from September 2 to 13, the Vatican said on Friday.
The trip to Asia and Oceania had been on the papal agenda for some time, but there were doubts about the 87-year-old pontiff’s embarkation due to his growing frailty and history of missed appointments due to health problems.
His last international trip was a two-day stay in Marseille, France, in September. In November she canceled a trip to the COP28 climate conference in Dubai due to lung inflammation.
Francis will now be in Jakarta between September 3 and 6, in Port Moresby and Vanimo between September 6 and 9, in Dili between September 9 and 11 and in Singapore between September 11 and 13, he said in a statement from his spokesperson.
Vietnam, which had been suggested by Vatican officials as a possible additional destination during the nearly two-week trip, was not mentioned.
In recent months the Pope has suffered from what the Vatican has described as colds, bronchitis and flu, and requires a wheelchair or cane to get around because of a knee problem.
Also on the agenda this year are Italian trips to Venice, on 28 April, Verona, on 18 May, and Trieste, on 7 July, as well as a visit to Belgium, the dates of which have not been confirmed, but which should take place to the second half of September.
The Argentine pope, the first from the so-called South of the world, has made rapprochement with Asia one of the priorities of his pontificate, during which the Vatican reached a historic, but disputed, agreement with China on the appointment of bishops.
Source: Terra
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